Did Cocaine really make records sound over bright with Treble?

[egellings]

I was in my 30's, then; am 75 now, so it was a long time ago. I ended up moving to another state chasing a job, and I lost contact with him and have no idea how he is now, if still alive.

 

[Digby]

No problem, thought you might have had a good 'drugs are bad' story to tell.

 

[dasdoing]

I think it's only rock music....and it's easily explained when you look at the hair of those engineers

 

[Scrappy]

Do folks on cocaine stop talking long enough to listen to anything?

Hope you’d have decent speakers wherever you’re furiously chainsmoking.

 

[Scrappy]

I’ve heard first-hand from a veteran speaker guy who says he could always tell what the (live show) mixer was on, coke for fried highs, booze for cooked lows, and allegedly pot for “everything”

 

[JSmith]

I’ve heard first-hand from a veteran speaker guy who says he could always tell what the (live show) mixer was on, coke for fried highs, booze for cooked lows, and allegedly pot for “everything”

This is pretty funny... but when you break it down;

If he could 'tell', how could he verify it?

If he already knew they were on those specific drugs, then the comment is negated.

Maybe he was a bit fried himself?


JSmith

 

[Scrappy]

This is pretty funny... but when you break it down;

If he could 'tell', how could he verify it?

If he already knew they were on those specific drugs, then the comment is negated.

Maybe he was a bit fried himself?


JSmith

To clarify, he saw the speakers (and boxes of blown components) when they returned post-tour.

Edit: “verified” by decades of seeing trends

 

[Mnyb]

This is bit absurd. I can’t imagine a whole work force on coke . Every sound engineer in the 80’s really ?

“Here’s your mandatory line of coke” take that before tracking or mixing anything

 

[DonR]

This is bit absurd. I can’t imagine a whole work force on coke . Every sound engineer in the 80’s really ?

“Here’s your mandatory line of coke” take that before tracking or mixing anything

Trading floors in NYC... I was there.

 

[Blumlein 88]

People forget there was no testing of anything until the late 80's. I worked with people on all sorts of things. I wasn't on anything at work, and wish they hadn't been.

I was given the task of rebuilding a complex bit of machinery and the assistant I was given was pretty much always on pot. I told him beforehand, this is too complex for you to work that way. When you come in tomorrow be straight. He told me if I could tell when he'd been smoking he'd walk off the job. He was okay the first two days. Third day it was obvious within 2 minutes. I told him. He did admit it. I told him I didn't know if he was serious about leaving the job, but I wasn't having him work with me on this one. To go hide or go home. I needed the help, but it wasn't worth the danger.

Then in the mid 90's until about 2010 half the people were on something, but had a prescription for it.

 

[Scrappy]

This is bit absurd. I can’t imagine a whole work force on coke . Every sound engineer in the 80’s really ?

“Here’s your mandatory line of coke” take that before tracking or mixing anything

Parse, this was “back in the day” touring sound. So, yea. Nevermind the mixer...

 

[Mnyb]

People forget there was no testing of anything until the late 80's. I worked with people on all sorts of things. I wasn't on anything at work, and wish they hadn't been.

I was given the task of rebuilding a complex bit of machinery and the assistant I was given was pretty much always on pot. I told him beforehand, this is too complex for you to work that way. When you come in tomorrow be straight. He told me if I could tell when he'd been smoking he'd walk off the job. He was okay the first two days. Third day it was obvious within 2 minutes. I told him. He did admit it. I told him I didn't know if he was serious about leaving the job, but I wasn't having him work with me on this one. To go hide or go home. I needed the help, but it wasn't worth the danger.

Then in the mid 90's until about 2010 half the people were on something, but had a prescription for it.

It would be pretty much impossible for to work with what I do in that condition.

Alcohol is a problem in industrial retrofit and service . There are always controls before you’re allowed in to a paper mill or steel mill to do your things during a shutdown. In the 70’s and 80’s there where less control , now we have them for a reason

 

[Scrappy]

People forget there was no testing of anything until the late 80's. I worked with people on all sorts of things. I wasn't on anything at work, and wish they hadn't been.

I was given the task of rebuilding a complex bit of machinery and the assistant I was given was pretty much always on pot. I told him beforehand, this is too complex for you to work that way. When you come in tomorrow be straight. He told me if I could tell when he'd been smoking he'd walk off the job. He was okay the first two days. Third day it was obvious within 2 minutes. I told him. He did admit it. I told him I didn't know if he was serious about leaving the job, but I wasn't having him work with me on this one. To go hide or go home. I needed the help, but it wasn't worth the danger.

Then in the mid 90's until about 2010 half the people were on something, but had a prescription for it.

Good until bad I’d say, sharpens yet dulls. I don’t f k with any these days, too strong!

 

[Scrappy]

Pardon my de-rail to the thread: charted records in the 80’s and possible influence by coke. Best I have to add is that influence continued to live shows, and the results were apparent

 

[iMickey503]

Thank you everyone for offering your insight. I'm still on the fence about it. But it seems like there is some truth to it.

 

[Digby]

I'm still on the fence about it.

Double blind test?

 

[DonR]

Double blind test?

Time to break out the yayo and have a little test.

 

[Scrappy]

Time to break out the yayo and have a little test.

Dodgy proposition these days....

 

[FeddyLost]

This seems hard to swallow. I thought that people on Stimulants would be more sensitive to high pitch sounds. Not the other way around.

AFAIK, coke is a stimulant which can keep one working longer than naturally possible.
So it might be just a try to compensate wrong hearing of a naturally tired ears.
I've read some phrases like "at the end of the day sometimes spectrum analyzer helps more than ears" so i suppose if sound engineer chemically whips himself day by day, his "sound target" might change.

 

[MCH]

There are also accounts of the opposite. Rock stars not allowing drugs in the studio, even if they were doing truckloads outside.

Comes to memory an interview with the german engineer that worked on Bowie's Berlin albums. Said that Bowie was very strict with that, and there was a notice on the wall: "no drugs allowed, there is beer in the refrigerator" - maybe it was to keep Iggy away